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{{Infobox_Contents | topic_name = Church history[[Image:Spread of Christianity in Europe to AD 600.jpg|thumb|center|Spread of [[Christianity]] to 325 AD (dark blue) and 600 AD (light blue).]]''Synopsis:'' The [[church]] is the body of believers of Jesus Christ and since it was formed after the resurrection of Jesus, major events and conflict, often over matters of [[doctrine]] have resulted in significant rifts in the church. Initially the early Christians spread the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman empire and small congregations of Christians sprang up in many towns. [[Rome]] soon became the geographical centre of the church. However, there was a rift between the Church in Greece and the one in Rome that slowly developed over centuries culminating in a schism in 1054 AD. Later, in sixteenth century, Christians in northern Europe split from the Roman church, an event known as the [[Reformation]]. Today there seems to be a bewildering array of [[denominations]]. Some of the larger ones include [[Roman Catholicism]], the [[Greek]] and Russian [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] churches and the wide variety of [[Protestant]] churches. ----__TOC__{{topics}}* subtopics = [[Timeline of church history]]* [[Major events and movements in church history]] - [[Councils]] | , [[Great Schism]] | , [[Crusades]] | , [[Inquisition]] | , [[Reformation]] | , [[Vatican I]] | , [[Revivalism]] | , [[Vatican II]]

* [[Ancient Israel and Judah]] | , [[Biblical Places Index]]|  opinion_pieces = {{opinionsshort_opinions}} * [[Church History (G.G.)]]| ==Main article==}}

The [[church]] is the body of believers of Jesus Christ. Its history of the Christian church is full of times periods of struggle and renewal. Initially, the early Christians spread the good news of [[Jesus]] throughout the Roman empire and small congregations of Christians sprang up in many towns. [[Rome]] soon became the geographical centre of the church. In the early centuries, debates about the nature of [[God]] caused great divisiondebates, however the church mostly stayed unified until a major rift finally occurred between the Church in Greece and the one in Rome (it had slowly developed over centuries) culminating in a schism in [[1054 AD]]. In the Middle Ages, people in Christian lands formed armies to "defend" the Holy Landsof Israel from Islamic control. In the mid second millenium, there was a renewal of awareness of the Bible spawning the Reformation, with Christians in northern Europe splitting from the Roman church. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, missionary activity has spread the [[gospel]] around the world. Today there seems to be a bewildering array of [[denominations]]. Some of the larger ones include [[Roman Catholicism]], the [[Greek]] and Russian [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] churches and the wide variety of [[Protestant]] churches.

====[[Persecutionof the early church]]====

Christianity came to America with its European colonization. Where the Spanish and Portuguese invaded and settled in South and central America, Roman Catholicism became predominant. A mixture of local superstitions blended into Catholic teaching producing a unique South American style of Catholicism with the veneration of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[saint]]s particularly noticeable today. In North America, the British brought the [[Anglican ]] and [[Baptist ]] churches. Other Protestant Christians journeyed to Northern Europe forming [[Lutheran ]] and Mennonite [[Anabaptist ]] congregations.

In the nineteenth century, with this new religious freedom in northern Europe and North America, many new Christian movements developed. William Booth founded the Salvation Army in England, a Protestant denomination with an emphasis on social justice. The Gideon's were founded in 1899 and became a world-wide organization to distribute free Bibles[[Bible]]s.

Along with the development of these Christian organizations came a growing belief, especially in evangelical Christians in Britain, that it was their duty to call sinners throughout the world to Christ. A few generations previously, Christians had been calling for an end to slavery of Africans. Now they were calling for missionaries to go to the homes of those people who had been made slaves and to preach the Gospel. Missionaries went throughout the the colonies of the European powers and Christianity was adopted by large numbers of people in [[Africa]], and smaller numbers of people in [[India ]] and South East Asia.

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